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The Outcast
' |image= |series= |production= 40275-217 |producer(s)= |story= |script= Jeri Taylor |director= Robert Scheerer |imdbref=tt0708815 |guests=Callan White as Krite, Megan Cole as Noor, Melinda Culea as Soren |previous_production=Ethics |next_production=Cause and Effect |episode= TNG S05E17 |airdate= 16 March 1992 |previous_release=Ethics |next_release=Cause and Effect |story_date(s)=Stardates 45614.6-45620.4 |previous_story=Ethics |next_story=Cause and Effect }} =Summary= The Enterprise is contacted by a humanoid race called the J'naii. They are a race that have no gender. They ask the crew for help in finding a shuttle that has gone missing. It is theorized that the shuttle disappeared into a pocket of null space. This is a pocket of space which drains energy rapidly. In short order, a rescue mission is planned, Riker volunteers to pilot a shuttle and retrieve the shuttle crew. A member of the J'naii named Soren insists on accompanying Riker and act as co-pilot. Soren proves to be a good pilot. Riker and Soren share a meal and become more comfortable with each other. They are interrupted by another J'naii and Soren leaves quickly. While the pair is charting the null space, the shuttle is damaged and Soren is injured. While being treated by Dr. Crusher, Soren asks her several questions about female gender identification. While Soren and Riker work on the shuttle, Soren confesses that she is attracted to Riker and further that she has female gender identity. Soren explains that the J'naii are an androgynous species that view the expression of any sort of male or female gender, and especially sexual liaisons, as a sexual perversion. According to their official doctrine, the J'naii had evolved beyond gender and thus view the idea of male/female sexuality as primitive. Those among the J'naii who view themselves as possessing gender are ridiculed, outcast, and forced to undergo "psychotectic therapy" - a form of therapy meant to remediate gender-specificity and allow acceptance back into J'naii society. The affair between Riker and Soren grows and eventually is discovered. Soren is essentially put on trial where she passionately defends herself and expresses her outrage at what their society does to those who are different, before which Riker barges in and tries to take the blame for the situation without success. J'naii diplomats force Soren to undergo this therapy, citing reformed citizens' newfound happiness and desire to be normal. Riker's emotions and love for Soren grow and he decides that he cannot leave Soren to this fate. He tries to explain the situation to Picard, who is sympathetic to Riker but says that he cannot sanction a rescue mission as it violates the Prime Directive as well as Riker throwing away his career. Worf visits Riker in his quarters and offers to go with him to rescue Soren because he is unwilling to let Riker face the task alone. When Riker and Worf beam down to the planet to rescue Soren, he realizes that the therapy has already been performed. Soren refuses to go with him, claiming that she is now happy and was sick during her affair with Riker. Soren apologizes to Riker, who returns to the Enterprise with Worf. =Errors and Explanations= Nit Central # Stephen Mendenhall on Sunday, June 20, 1999 - 12:27 pm: The "null space" they're investigating sounds like a black hole. So why didn't they call it a black hole? What's the difference? Why didn't they even mention black holes? Null space may not generate the intense gravitational fields associated with black holes. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 3:42 am: Data says that the shuttle is nowhere in the star system, but wouldn't the star, planets and anything else floating around the system interfere with the scan? The sensors are designed to filter out any such interference. # Since the null space pocket apparently bends light around it wouldn't there be a bit of a distortion as a star or the sun passes behind it? The null space could absorb this. # If the J'naii have a neutral personal pronoun, then why haven't Starfleet personnel been told what word to use? For that matter why doesn't the Universal Translator just translate the right word? When the J'naii use this word Starfleet personnel would hear the word as 'it' and when Starfleet personnel use 'it' the J'naii hear 'it' as the proper word. This would result in confusion when people use the word 'it' in other contexts. # Soren says that she doesn't understand about two genders. but then she says that long ago the J'naii had two sexes. So why aren't there any books or records of the old ways? kerriem on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 4:38 pm: Well...given the current civilization's horror of anything pertaining to two genders, if there are, they're probably strictly controlled need-to-know stuff. Something that only scientists (and maybe underground pornographers) have access to.. # My mom wondered how Riker, Soren and the two unconscious J'naii can transport from null space to the Enterprise if the shuttle can't even communicate with the Enterprise? (And wouldn't they need the Shuttle computer to rematerialize properly?) Probably an exprimental enhancement to the transporter system. # Don't the J'naii have doctors? How would a Jenaii hide their gender differences from a doctor? Wouldn't the doctor notice that a Jenaii was too male or too female and either recommend a course of treatment or report the throwback to the authorities? On a world where being one gender is the worst of crimes, I seriously doubt that a doctor/patient confidentiality would exist, at least on this issue.LUIGI NOVI on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 2:13 pm: The favoring of one gender over another may be in their behavior, rather than in their anatomy. # John A. Lang on Friday, November 08, 2002 - 7:48 pm: Geordi has a mustache and a beard in this episode...the previous episode he doesn't have either. Neither does he have one after this episode. It seems rather odd to introduce this feature on Geordi then eliminate it so quickly without an explanation. '''LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 9:28 am: Why does everything have to have an explanation, John? He tried it out, decided he didn't care for it, and then got rid of it. ''' =Sources= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation